Caroline Wozniacki continued her hot run of late toppling former champion Maria Sharapova in three tough sets in the hot, sticky conditions at the US Open Monday.

In the third set Wozniacki jumped out to a 3-1 lead and never gave back the break, clinching the match and moving into the quarters of a Slam for the first time in her last 11 Slam appearances.

“Maria is obviously a tough competitor,” Wozniacki said. “She’s won here before. She won the French Open this year. It was a really good win for me. Beating her here at the US Open is a tough task — I’m really happy to be through and have another chance to play in the next round.”

And I really see no reason – not even Serena – for her not win this title next Sunday.

In the quarters Wozniacki, a finalist in 2009, will face Italian Sara Errani, who wore down and ended the comeback run of Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 6-3, 2-6, 6-0.

“I like to run. I love running,” said Errani, will again need to put in some miles against Wozniacki. “I try to be consistent to run and be in every point. I want to fight. The other players have bigger strokes than me, but I try to stay in the match that way. It was a tough match, I felt good mentally.”

The other quarter from the bottom half will pit new Swiss star Belinda Bencic against Peng Shaui. The 17-year-old Bencic stunned Jelena Jankovic 7-6(6), 6-3 thumping an emphatic backhand winner on matchpoint. Bencic spoke afterward about how Martina Hingis is helping with her game.

“She told me to hold the rallies,” Bencic said. “I have to be aggressive. I had to pay attention to her backhand down the line. So I really knew she was doing that a lot. Her backhand is just amazing, so I tried to push it to her forehand.”

Turning to the men’s draw.

Gilles Simon and Marin Cilic set up a fourth round clash with wins on Sunday prior to the rains. Simon performed the unthinkable, wearing down Spaniard David Ferrer 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 in the heat.

“I feel it was one of the hardest days for me on the court because it was hot and it was so humid,” said Simon. “I never sweated like this in the past ten years! To play David in these conditions is really demanding physically. At one point I was really tired. I felt it would be difficult. But then I had more energy and I felt he was in trouble. It’s not very often that he and I are tired like this after just two hours.”

Ferrer was not forthcoming except to confirm the difficult conditions.

“There is a lot of humidity, very sun, and it was not easy for me,” the Spaniard said. “I was not good with my fitness. Nothing else, no? He was better.”

Simon is that good of player – and he’s better than his ranking – but that was a surprising result to me.

Cilic moved into the fourth round with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Kevin Anderson in the battle of big servers. Cilic is 0-4 career against the backboard-like game of Simon.

In the evening, Roger Federer got a well-timed 2-hour rain delay after falling behind early to Marcel Granollers before roaring back for a 4-6, 6-1, 6-1, 6-1 victory. Federer was down 5-3 in the first and looked pretty bad against a very hot Granollers before the skies opened up. When they returned the Spaniard took the opening set but managed just three more games thereafter.

“Today conditions were much more humid so you could feel a little flat out there, but that wasn’t the case,” Federer said. “I was able to power through that. I’m happy I wake up every day and I’m ready to go. It’s also great to see Robredo fit as a fiddle at the end last night. I thought that was impressive, too. He’s my age, too. I think when you keep yourself in shape and train the right way, that’s how you do it.”

Federer now faces another Spaniard, Roberto Bautista-Agut, Tuesday night. Agut, who’s been a decent player on the year, handily knocked out Adrian Mannarino.

Federer’s prodigy, Grigor Dimitrov, had a similar match. Dimitrov lost the opening set 6-0 before finding his footing to win going away 0-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-1.

Goffin’s had a heck of a summer winning something like 27 of his last 28 matches, but the majority of them came on his favorite clay surface. On hardcourt Grigor’s the better player these two 23-year-olds and it showed today.

“His game was just too good in the first set,” Dimitrov said. “It was just mind over matter a little bit at the beginning – especially at the beginning of the second set. But after that, after taking that second set, I knew eventually I was playing my game. I knew he pushed back a little bit, so he started struggling I think also with his footwork. His shots were not as accurate. I took charge of the game.”

In other matches, could this be the event for Gael Monfils? The acrobatic Frenchman appeared to be all business tonight in an easy 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 win over 2013 US Open semifinalist and countryman Richard Gasquet.

Monfils, who next meets Dimitrov in what should be quite the “highlight reel” match, hasn’t lost a set in three matches.

“Well, it’s going to be a tough one,” Monfils said looking ahead. “He’s definitely the favorite. It’s the first time we switched. He’s the favorite; top 10. I think he’s very talented. He can hit every shot. But, you know, I think he have a great defense. It’s going to be interesting for me. But try play my game, be aggressive, and we’ll see how it’s going to be.”

I think he can beat Dimitrov. And beat Federer. And beat…well, let’s not get too far ahead. Anyway, with his talent, the guy is “due” for another Slam final weekend appearance. And he turns 28 on Monday.

Tomas Berdych was a winner after the rain as well. He’ll now face the lone unseeded player left in the men’s draw, Dominic Thiem. The 20-year-old Austrian who I think is the class of the next generation blew out Feliciano Lopez in straights.

“He’s a great player,” Thiem said of Berdych. “It’s going to be the first time for me when I play against him. Of course I know him from television and everything, but very tough match. I’m looking forward.”

As for thoughts on tomorrow, I like Djokovic and that’s about it. The rest you can flip a coin.

JW Tsonga v Andy Murray
Murray leads in this one 9-2 but he hasn’t beaten a Top 10 player since his Wimbledon title run and I think right now Tsonga is just the better, hotter player. The courts are fast and it’s expected to be warm again – and we saw what happened to Murray last week. Murray’s a former champion but I have to lean Tsonga here.The pick: Tsonga in five

Milos Raonic v Kei Nishikori
If Nishikori was 100% healthy I’d take him. But I just don’t know and I don’t think even he knows if his body is okay. Does he trust it? Fact is, Kei’s simply a better tennis player than Raonic but the Canadian has the bigger weapon, namely that serve. And having that kind of a serve can take you places and win you majors. (Just ask Goran Ivanisevic, Richard Krajicek or Andy Roddick. Hell, Greg Rusedski made a US Open final!)

And Raonic’s has been in form this summer while Kei missed time due to a toe injury. So in a tight one…The pick: Raonic in four

Stan Warwinka v Tommy Robredo
Another tough fourth round matchup. Robredo leads 6-2 but Stan beat him earlier this year en route to his Australian Open title run. And Stan also made the semifinals at the US Open last year. But I’m not convinced he’s playing confident tennis whereas Robredo, who beat Federer last year in this round, just looks like the sharper, more balanced of the two.The pick: Robredo in 5

CBS will have live coverage during the day. ESPN will have the two night matches. Happy Labor Day!

Going into today’s action there are only 2 of the top 8 seeds – Williams and Bouchard – left, though the argument can easily be made that Azarenka and Wozniacki (who are still alive) belong in the top eight.

However, in the men’s draw only the 4th seed – Ferrer – is gone from the top 8. In face, in the top half (Djokovic’s) of the draw P.Kohlschreiber is the only non-top 16 ranked guy in that half. 7 out of 8 according to seedlings made it.

At least in the men’s game, there seems to be something to be said for the points system employed, no?

Andy Vs Tsonga is going to be tough to predict. Past H2H would suggest that Andy is home and safe, but Tsonga has recently beaten him at Montreal and has the confidence and momentum with him after becoming a Masters Champion. So, it should be a close affair and may be, I would just stiff my neck out and predict that Andy would win.

As regards Robredo Vs Wawarinka, surprisingly the former leads 6-2 and considering his wonderful exhibiton against Nick, you have to consider him as the favourite to win this one.

his contador. i liked nole’s fist pumping. that was an amazing passing shot to save set point and he was just trying to get the crowd into it. they are pretty quiet this match. hope nole can stay focused. he retreated behind the baseline too much in set 2. he needs to keep his lead. kohls is not an easy player to beat. lots of talent.

still the fact that he reached five us open finals, and four of those in a row and only won one of them on his fav surface will play into his mind if he reached the final. since his AO 12 win he won only two more majors and lost five finals

I could hardly watch the Gasquet vs Monfils wet t shirt match yesterday….not that either look bad in a wet t shirt, but knowing that it was continual perspiration wore me out and I felt bad for Richard he looked so miserable. Doesn’t appear quite as humid today but who knows.

fed express, just to clarify, nole did not retire at the FO in 08. he made the semis and lost to rafa (he was the only player that year to nearly take a set from rafa) he retired at the FO when he was a teen, in 2006. since he’s won a slam, he retired only once at the slams, which was australian 09.

Unfortunately, I slept most of the match. Guess I will get a piece of Murray against Tsonga instead.

While this message is moderated (I used another e-mail; I’ve just written it a second time), I looked at the stats. The difference was made by Kolhy low first serve percentage, and by Novak’s efficiency on second serves. They served 85 times each (but Novak served 15 times, Kohlschreiber 14), but Novak won 22 of 41 Philipp’s second serves points. Three double faults didn’t help.

Then, Novak’s ratio of winners/UE looks good too: 34/19. I watch from 2:1 in the third, and it was obvious that Novak was trying to hit a lot of winners, playing a bit risky.

Now, Tsonga vs Murray. Don’t have a favourite, so I’ll enjoy tennis for once without blood pressure problems.

Murray probably has the best return in the game. There are interesting stats on SecondSerb, in the serie Myths against Maths.

Anyway, I think that for Novak, the best thing that can happen is Tsonga’s victory in five. The key is that Murray makes a little bit more of his serve, and Novak just isn’t always able to hit through Andy’s defence.

That’s Murray’s main, and, watching him play aggressive tennis, his only weakness tennis wise. Unfortunately for Jo, he just doesn’t make enough long returns — enough returns at all — on second serves.

This match is virtually over. Jo let his chances slip. He was tense on key points, when his first serve deserved him. He missed the occasions to put some pressure on Andy’s second serve, trying to often to go for big, FH returns without a lot of success. I am disappointed, I admit.

of course andy can win. he’s a grand slam champion twice over. and his form, while he has struggled, hasn’t been as bad as people say. it’s just been more mental than physical, and each of his wins give him more confidence.

Genie Bouchard is being attended by the trainer…getting her BP taken, ect.

Murray and Tsonga both appear to be suffering in the conditions. Seems Andy should be more adapted to the humidity since he trains in Miami. The longer the match wears on, the worse it is, of course, for getting cramps and suffering. They are all sweating profusely by this point. It’s pretty bad.

Come On and go get with me i wanna hype andy murray…
Come on come on come over take it of your shoulder.
Come on and pull me over we gotta hype the pushers
Sliding it off your shoulders as we,re falling over. …love that new strokes song:)))

Jo just crumbled under the pressure. He was broken three times when he served to stay in the set. He couldn’t find a first serve in those moments, made double faults. In the second and third set he lead by a break, and immediately his level dropped, something that was most obvious with his return and his serve.

Andy is clearly playing extremely well. What are Novak chances? His return will give him a lot of opportunities to pressure Andy. But the key will probably be his serve (he didn’t serve well so far in the tournament) and the nerves of both players.

About jane’s comment that Novak struggles against Andy: let’s add that everybody struggles against Andy when he is on a good day.

I’m guessing that Novak vs. Andy will be a night match, which would help Andy. He was struggling a little with the heat and humidity today as he did in his first match. Novak didn’t seem to have any issues with the weather today.

Just checked the stats. While the overall impression was that the match was at a very high level, the stats reveal a different story. Jo’s first serve percentage: 59%, Andy’s:49%. Tsonga: 43UE. Jo’s return was awful: he won 29/99, and, knowing Andy’s second serve weakness: only 21/50. This was crucial for the match.

@Jane and Wong Boy – thanks. I only saw a little of Nole’s match and he seemed fine so I didn’t know about the heat affecting him. Well they’d both be helped then, but now that I think about it, with both of them being from Europe, my guess is that they’d play the marquee day match instead so that the European audience could watch from home.

In their last matches on hard Andy didn’t make a lot against Novak’s serve, especially since Novak started serving more on Andy’s FH and serving wide in general. But he usually serves 5 mph faster in New York in average. Is this average lower because he didn’t have to hit too hard? Who knows. We will see in a few days. Anyway, if Andy serves at 50%, it will be difficult for him too.

And yes, you are right about the 50%. Anyway, I think that it is Novak’s percentage right now against the big four (three).

@Jane – Andy had a night match against Bachinger. I agree the night conditions will be equally favorable to both. If it’s a humid night, slight edge to Andy.

This was the best match I’ve seen Andy play since the Rafa match in Rome. This time he didn’t get into a funk after going down a break (twice) and stayed focused in very challenging conditions. It’s very promising but I still think Nole will have the edge in the QF. We’ll see. That’s the wonderful thing about tennis – sometimes you think you know what’s going to happen and then you’re surprised.

@Margot – It’s a good feeling isn’t it? Long time coming. And what about that running FH passing shot off of Tsonga’s smash? Got to be one of the shots of the tournament. Can’t stop watching the vine of it.

@the DA
It’s wonderful :)
Andy was so calm and confident I thought we were back to the Ivan days. I also felt he was moving so well his damn back might actually be better now.
And oh that shot! *faints with joy* but there were loads of others.
@CDP
Stop cooking/eating crow pie and come cack and join the roller coaster!

@Jane – it has to do with the BBC. They get a big audience for televised matches, while Switzerland doesn’t get as many people watching. But it doesn’t always work that way. I guess we’ll find out tomorrow when Wednesday’s schedule comes out.

So Tommy had 2 SPs and a late charge from Stan turned it around. He now leads 2 sets to 1 and is up a break in the 4th. Stan’s habit of pointing to his head every time his hits a good shot is kind of irritating. I was so sure this was going 5. Still early I guess.

Has Krunic found finally his serve? Azarenka doesn’t play well, obviously, but it is interesting to note that both Keys and Kvitova didn’t play well against Krunic too. The little girl just make them miss, although I don’t see how right now.

Krunic was SO impressive at the end of the first set, how she held it together.

Looks like Stan’s got the better of Robredo now, which makes sense. He’s the hard court player. He’s beaten Nole, Andy and Rafa. He’s due a win over Fed at a slam, but he has a more difficult versus Fed, might be mental, i.e., due to their friendship?

Vika has been playing better tennis each match this tournament, mat4. She was a solid #2 in the WTA ranking before she was injured at the Australian Open. I expected Vika to win and she may still win…we shall see.

@Wog boy – I certainly haven’t claimed it’s a done deal, and never would. I don’t think Andy will – possibly depending on conditions. I would still have wanted Robredo and Kei to win even if Andy had been knocked out. ;) I have players from the other side who I’d like to win or be knocked out.

“god, another drop shot. come on young lady! stop with those. :/”
jane, I think she ran out of juice, she didn’t have a choice but to try to shorten the points using drop shots. She should be proud of herself, she gave everything she had but better player won.

nice one the da! nole hit a great running passing shot to save set point today; it wasn’t off a smash but off a stab volley. tignor said it could’ve been the shot to turn the match. i’d say it more or less stabilized nole. going more than straight sets in today’s heat and humidity is something none of them wanted to do, i am sure!

they could’ve done the slice, the drop shot and maybe even approach shot? maybe over strangest shot, although for general readers and even tennis fans, it’s kind of interesting to see what they picked.

My hunch was that Andy would win and he did went on to win proving my prophesy right. It is some of the few times we call it right just like Astrology and we can derive some satisfaction out of it. But the easy manner he won over Tsonga did surprise me considering that the later was flying high with confidence and was playing some of his best Tennis at the US Open. But all credit to Andy, he stuck to his task and played his best hard court tennis that he hasn’t played for some time that caught Tsonga unawares. Now this sets up a blockbuster match against Novak who was also looking in fine fettle against Kohlschrieber, another dangerous player, who can bring down the best on his day. But Novak was equal to the task and he did just blast him off the court with his precision Tennis.

Now coming to this blockbuster match between Novak Vs Andy which should be in all respects an entertaining one with two best of the hard courters slugging it out against one another and showing fine form in their earlier matches and that should set up a crackling match in right earnest with all fire works in display on the court. It is ofcourse a real shame that the two best hard courters are meeting at the quarters, but that is how some time it plays out and we need to accept that as a harsh fact of life. It should be an even match in my opinion with the edge to Novak. But Andy is a hard nut to crack and especially against Novak, he produces his best Tennis as he matches up with well and that should give some frightening moments to the former. The result of this match could boil down always as to who plays best on that particular day and even a net cord in an important moment of the match could change the whole complexion of the match upside down when things are going even. So, it would be difficult to predict who would win. Again, let me be bold and predict that Novak would win this encounter in four tough sets.

@jane, that link was interesting, sort of. It was wrong on some strokes, my imo. Ex; best one handed BH and movement. But it was an opinion, so whatevers…..
Also, is best endurance, best mental, and best match for your life “strokes”?
Good that someone made an attempt to compile the strokes thingy though……

Yes there was…..Stan was serving and they were jawing back and forth before Stan actually served. The commentators tried their best to try figure out the problem, but to no avail. We will read about it in the pressors…a nosy reporter will get to the bottom of it…..we can count on that!! Lol

okie, i noticed the handshake was rather cold, but i must’ve missed that! hmmm, intriguing.

wawa hit 75 winners! to robredo’s 19…

i googled and this is what i found okie;

“Things turned testy early in the fourth as Wawrinka and Robredo exchanged words, although neither player cared to discuss the moment later. “It’s something that can happen in a match,” Robredo said. “I think he did something not nice, and I just told him if he had a problem today.” Wawrinka, too, said it was just a matter of two players trying to win. “It’s always the same when you play a tough match,” he said. “He did few things that I did not like it, but at the end of the day it’s a tennis match.”

Thanks, Jane……might be more on the matter later today. If Pam Shriver had been working the match, she would have known the full story…..She doesn’t miss a thing and is not shy when trying to find out. It will probably come to light sooner or later!!

@jane
Interesting what you posted but Andy has said IHO Ferrer is the best returner in the game.
Hey, what do “pundits” know anyway?…;)
@ the DA
Andy has defended his US points and has nothing to defend till AO. Whatever happens tomorrow, it’s all good!
And Kei won! Yay!

Many people were assuming Tsonga would win – based on the fact Andy had not beaten a top 10 guy this season. Had a hunch he would get the better of Tsonga and went against the trend by calling it in 5. Thrilled he did it in 3 :-)

Mauresmo is clearly having a calming effect on him.

Somewhat anxious he is struggling in the humidity however. Hope it is just that and not any kind of injury.

How much of a chance does Federer really have on winning the US Open? I still think Novak is an overwheling favorite. Had Federer been at least two years younger, it would have been equal. Nole vs Andy, that would be interesting but the former looks like he’s in better form physically and mentally.

@Honfleuraise
Hey! Good to see u girl :) Our boy done good, yes?
Agree about Maresmo’s calming influence. Andy looked steely and determined, I thought. I think she’s influencing his game in a positive way too, since I feel he’s playing with more flair these day and definitely using his volley more. His net stats have been fab in the last two matches. His 2nd serve seems tweaked to me too…*faints with joy*…;)
Courier, yes I know, can be a bit of a twerp…. but… was saying, at this stage of his career, Andy should train less hard and start trusting his talent more.
Amen to that.

Margot our boy done good indeed,i dont know how he will fair against Nole,but i hope its a great match and he gives it his best shot,if he plays like he did against Tsonga then one has to give him a legitamate shot,it will be physical and both will make each other run alot,Andy and Novak match up well,and Andy when at his best has the game to troube Novak too,fingers crossed….